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The ex-Miami Heat legend addressed the controversy surrounding the recently revealed statue of himself outside the team's arena in South Florida. The statue, which was met with criticism and ridicule for its lack of resemblance to him, was unveiled on Sunday.

“I care, but I don’t,” Wade said, via The Associated Press. “The social media world is about opinions. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone, use y'all opinions. Please talk more about us. Talk more about a statue, come on down to see it, take some photos, send some memes. We don’t care.”

Dwyane Wade watches the Miami Heat unveil his statue: “this is out of body, y’all.” pic.twitter.com/SbhRTDoD27

— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) October 27, 2024

Wade spent nearly all of his Hall of Fame career with the Heat, who he helped lead to three NBA titles. He’s still the team’s all-time leading scorer, and he’s the first player in franchise history to actually get a statue.

While it doesn’t really look like him, especially in the face, Wade loves it.

Why can’t we get statues of people…that look like the people they’re supposed to represent. Nobody sees Dwyane Wade here. pic.twitter.com/AMc36O7hVU

— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) October 27, 2024

“If I wanted it to look like me, I’d just stand outside the arena and y’all can take photos,” he said. “It don’t need to look like me. It’s the artistic version of a moment that happened that we’re trying to cement.”

Wade was directly involved in the statue’s creation, which took about 800 hours to complete. The moment was taken from a game against the Chicago Bulls in 2009 after Wade hit a buzzer-beater to lift the Heat to the win in double overtime.

Though he was quick to defend the artists that made the statue of him, he knows they just have to laugh, brush off the criticism and move on.

“I don’t know a lot of people with a statue. Do you?” he said. “Anybody here, y’all know anything about the process of a statue? No one out there do neither. And so, it’s an unbelievable process to be a part of. And it’s a complicated process.”